*ੈ✩‧₊˚ gentle breeze •°. *࿐
breathe with me

(why didn't anyone say there was no chapter here IM SO EMBARRASSED)

After helping out with training with the ilus, it was time for you to go back to your own training. Because of that, you were not able to see Neteyam, or anyone else from the Sully family for a couple days. Except for Neytiri, surprisingly. Ronal was adamant on not only training you, but also Neytiri due to her being the tsakarem of the Omatikaya. The both of you teaching her the way of water.

But having another tsakarem around was useful for you. Since Neytiri already knew some things, she helped you with things that you did not understand. There was also some comfort in knowing that there was someone there who also didn't know everything was learning alongside you.

At the current moment, you, Ronal, and Neytiri were wading in the water. Ronal reciting the mantra that your clan lived by to Neytiri. You weren't fully paying attention, your attention drifting away from the mothers. Your eyes found Tsireya and Lo'ak along the rocks, her hand on his stomach. You share a silent laugh with yourself, knowing that the two have gotten closer and that it was obvious they like each other.

You guess that Ronal noticed that you were no longer paying attention and called out your name, "(Y/n)?"

"Huh? Yes?" you say, your head sharply turning to Ronal.

"Do you want to take a break for the day?" she asks. You stare blankly at her for a second, before shaking your head.

"No, no. I'm good," you say.

"I think you need to take a break, child. You're getting distracted" Neytiri says, your ears point up a bit at her words. You weren't a child, but if she was insisting that you can take a break, you were going to take it.

"Alright, um. I'll be back in a bit?" you ask, unsure.

"No, you can take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow we continue," Ronal says. You nod your head at her and dip down into the water, excited to do whatever you were going to do.

An ilu swims past you and you motion it towards you, immediately bonding with it before swimming off the edges of the reef. You weren't planning on going past the reef but you wanted to observe the deep from a distance.

As you were swimming to your destination, you see a stray ilu prancing around with a na'vi riding it. You direct your ilu over and both of the ilu immediately circle each other, spiraling up to the surface of the water. You smile and let out a breathless laugh as you and the other break the surface.

"Neteyam?" you say, his head turning to meet your face.

"Hi (Y/n)! Going out in the water as well," he says.

"I am... what are you doing far from the shore," you ask, looking behind you. The shore wasn't that far, but for someone who is just learning how to be in the water? The shore was ages away.

"Well, I was trying to practice riding on ilu. I kept on bobbing up and down, to breathe you know? Didn't think I would get this far," he says with a chuckle.

"I can swim with you back, if you want. Just so, you know, you can't get in trouble," you say. Nerves unknowingly creeping on your words.

"That would be nice," he says, sending you a side smile.

You send him a smile back, the both of you slowly riding back to where the water would be more shallow. You didn't dive back into the water despite what you wanted, you stayed above the water to keep Neteyam company, knowing that he couldn't be under the water for too long.

"How is training with Tsireya and Ao'nung?" you ask. Even though you had seen Tsireya and Ao'nung, you hadn't got updates on how the Sully's were doing and you wanted to know.

"I think it's going good. Tsireya is very patient with us, Ao'nung on the other hand? I swear, he hates on Lo'ak and Kiri for no reason," he says, scoffing at the end of his words.

"Yeah, Ao'nung can be like that. He's not as... open as Tsireya and I are. I don't know how they're so different," you say with a laugh at the end.

"Yeah, siblings can be like that. Where have you been? I've barely seen you since we got here," he asks.

"I've been having my tsakarem lessons, I do them with Ronal and with your mother actually. She's lovely."

"Really?"

"Mhm, she was the tsakarem of your village, correct? Ronal has insisted in teaching Neytiri the way of water," you smile, thinking about the mantra of the Metkayina people.

"The way of water?" he asks.

"Yes, there is a saying us Metkayina people have. It helps us remember and be thankful for our ocean," you reply.

"What is it?" he asks once more.

"Hasn't Tsireya taught you this?" you question back, sure that she would have said this to the Sully kids already.

"She probably has to Lo'ak," he says with a laugh, "those two have been inseparable!"

"You've noticed that too! They're not subtle about it."

"They're not! Lo'ak drools when he looks at her."

"They're cute though, I think they suit each other," you say, the shore soon approaching.

"They do. So, the way of water," he says, waiting for you to fill in the rest of his sentence.

"Ah yes, the way of water," you start. You bring you ilu closer to him, looking into his yellow eyes, "let's go to the beach first, and practice your breathing."

You both sit at the shore of a sandbar, the tide tickling your legs as you sit cross legged, Neteyam mirroring you. You put your hand on his diaphragm, the other on his heart.

"You must have a calm heart, and take a deep breath in. Yes, like that. Take a deep breath out, slowly, slowly. Good," you direct him the way to breathe. You were sure he was taught the way of water by Tsireya since she said that was what you worked on when you caught up with her.

You did a couple more deep breaths before you took your hands off of Neteyam, his ears tilting down a bit. You get and walk into the water until it reaches your waist, turning Neteyam with inviting arms, "I need you to feel the water with me, breathe with me."

"The way of water has no beginning or end,

It took a couple days until you had felt that Neteyam was ready to be under the water for a longer period of time.

The sea is around you, and in you.

You swim hand in hand with Neteyam through the reef, testing to see how long he is able to hold his breath.

The sea is your home, before your birth and after your death.

You had a system in place, where he would tap the inner part of your wrist with a finger if he needed air.

Our hearts beat in the womb of the world.

The both of you were so entranced by the wonders of the sea, but you noticed that Neteyam never tapped your wrist.

Our breaths burn in the shadow of the deep.

Silent excitement bubbled in the inside of you.

The sea gives, and the sea takes.

You let go of his hand, to see his reaction. Though panic shows, he blinks it away, smiling at you as he swims on his own.

Water connects all things.

You grab a sand dollar that was well rested into the bottom of the sea, interrupting its rest, you take it with you as you and Neteyam swim up to the surface.

Life to death,

As you both reach the surface, you look at each other in delight.

Darkness to light."

"You've made such good progress!" you say, jumping up and down in excitement on the beach. During the few days it took you to teach Neteyam, the both of you had gotten closer. You even asked Ronal for time off training to teach him.

"I have! And it's all thanks to the wonderful teacher I have," Neteyam says, bumping shoulders with you. You giggle and bump his shoulder back.

"Yeah, but I have an excellent student who is willing to learn fast," you counter.

A comfortable silence falls on the two of you, as you continue to walk toward the village. Your eyes wander to the distance to see Kiri and Tuk playing along the waves.

"I hope you're not tired of the water! Let's go join Kiri and Tuk!" you say excitedly, your tail slightly swaying behind you.

"How can I be tired of the water if you're always in there," he laughs as you drag him over to his sisters. You make sure he doesn't see the blush that rests on your face.

"Tuk, Kiri! What are you two up to? It's been a bit," you say smiling at the girls.

"We're picking up seashells for my new collection!" Tuk excitedly says, running up to you to show her some shells collected.

"Why, those are so pretty Tuk. You have an amazing eye," you say, crouched down to her level to see what she was showing you.

"Thank you! I think these would look really pretty in your hair," she says, putting a couple shells in your hand.

"I will keep that in mind, maybe I do need to change my hair," bringing up the shells Tuk gave you, you hover them over your actual hair to mock putting them in.

a"Well isn't my sister the best collector around," Neteyam says, picking up Tuk and throwing her up into the air a bit.

You smile at Tuk's giggling as her and Neteyam start playing off to the side. You turn to Kiri to see her stare off into the distance, an activity that you were quite familiar with yourself.

"Kiri, what's going on in that beautiful mind of yours," you ask, sitting beside her.

"Home," she simply says. Her mind seems to wake up a bit when she realizes who she is talking to, "I mean, the ocean is beautiful. I can feel so much when I swim, when I see the reef. It's just, not the same."

You look at the wistful look she held, before sighing, "I'm afraid I can't relate. The water is all I've known. How about you tell me about your home. I would love to know about it."

Kiri's face animated as she started telling you stories about the forest. The trees were tall, much taller than the trees that protect your homes. Their trees served the same purpose of protecting their home, keeping them hidden from the sun but not limiting what grows. She explained the flourishing fauna, how there were plants that grew everywhere and their purpose, and how things were glowing much more often there than here.

She described many animals to you, the ikran, palulukan, direhorses, and about the mighty toruk. When the toruk was mentioned, you teased her about her father being Toruk Makto.

Finally, she told you about her Home Tree. The gentle yet powerful glow it gave off, how her family used to live around it before moving to the Hallelujah Mountains, and how it was their way of connecting to their ancestors.

At some point you braided some of Tuk's shells into Kiri's hair, Tuk attempting to do the same when she joined you. Neteyam sitting beside you, allowing you to lay on his shoulder post-braiding.

"Your home sounds... beautiful," you say, holding on to her hand and looking into her eyes. "It must've been so hard to leave."

The Sully siblings go silent, you can see Tuk tearing up and you reach out to her in worry, "oh, Tuk. I'm sorry, do not cry."

She sniffles as Neteyam brings her into a side hug, rubbing his sister's side. Kiri looks at you, opening her mouth to tell you more.

"We didn't just leave our home behind, we left behind one of our friends as well," she says.

"Didn't you leave many friends behind?" you ask, knowing that if they left their whole clan, there had to be many connections they left.

"It's different with him... he was captured by the sky people and he had to leave without saving him," you gasp at her words, hand covering your mouth.

"I hope... you will be reunited soon. May Eywa guide you to him," you say. You didn't know what else to say, a friend being captured by the sky people felt like a lost cause. You didn't want Kiri to know you felt that way.

Quiet settles among the four of you, as you calmly comb through Kiri's hair. The air around you all falls comfortably as the eclipse slowly falls.

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[a/n]: this chapter is lowkey not it i'm a hater !! i've been trying to outline things and i'm confusing myself with the order or events bc i keep on writing at 1am LMFAO. i've been also trying to write y/n's songcord !! its kinda fun and taking inspo from neytiri's yayayaya anyway

did you know: there is no 'c' in the na'vi language! so though the omaticaya clan was written with a 'c' in the subtitles and some other stuff, it is later rewritten as the omatikaya since it was 'spelt wrong' in their own language – it was confirmed by joshua izzo at omaticon 2023.